Yartapuulti assistant coach Darren Reeves said there are plenty of learnings to come from close games for the club’s young playing group.
After a two-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Friday, the group underwent a detailed review ahead of the trip to Darwin this week to take on a sixth-placed Gold Coast.
Speaking with the Adelaide media on Monday, Reeves spoke on game scenario education, gave details on Miles Bergman’s injury, and looked ahead to the week in Darwin.
Reeves on reviewing close games
“Be nice to be on the other side of a couple, for sure. This one again, like Josh (Carr) mentioned last week, this one is another different scenario, and I think for all of us, there's some learnings to take out of it. In a draw situation, are you trying to win? Are you trying to save? And what does that look like? It's certainly not something we'd have addressed at this point, but certainly something we can take some learnings out of. How would that look if we find ourselves in that position again?
“I think both teams were probably still trying to win. That was probably the mindset. And I think for us, we'd come from a little way back late in the quarter there. So that thought of still trying to win was probably still our mindset, and I guess for us now, do we look at what part of the ground we're on at certain moments, and does that change if we're in our back half? Are we trying to save the game? Or if we’re in our forward half, are we trying to win? That's probably something that we can take some learnings out of for sure. I think we got the ground set up how we wanted in those last couple of minutes, and unfortunately, it didn't play out how we hoped.”
Reeves on Todd Marshall’s role
“Todd got through the (SANFL) game, which was really important for us. He certainly played back most of the game at SANFL level, and obviously went forward, kicked a goal late, and that's certainly something that's on the table. And we've got selection this afternoon, and we'll finalise the squad that goes to Darwin, but I'm certain Todd's in the mix. I would think, he’s probably still more leaning to play in defence if he was to come in.”
Reeves on Tom Cochrane
“It was great to see Tommy play (in the SANFL on Saturday). He's had a really disrupted pre-season. Obviously, had a significant hamstring injury. He's had some disruption since, with some illness and some awareness with his hamstring over the last couple of weeks, and it's been disrupted in his preparation. So it was great to see him get through a game of footy. And we know he's incredibly talented, and he kicked some amazing goals on the weekend. And I think for us, it's how do we set Tommy up to be successful for a long period, not just rush him based off one performance. So we'll have that discussion this afternoon, but we certainly won't be taking any risks with him. We need to make sure we get some work into him and have him physically ready to play AFL football for a long period, not just for a short period of time.
“He's just dynamic. He's one of those guys that just kicks goals and finds ways to kick goals, and that's certainly been a little bit of a challenge for us at times. So he adds that dynamic, and he can play multiple roles in that forward line as well. He can play deeper. He can certainly get up around stoppage as well. So he's an incredibly talented player, and we’ll be excited to get him back in the team.”
Reeves on Miles Bergman’s injury
“No, unfortunately, Miles has sustained a ruptured ligament in his big toe, so he's having surgery this week, and he’s going to miss a few weeks of footy, so we're unsure what that looks like until after he's had surgery. Certainly not ideal for him, but they'll get that fixed and get him back into rehabbing, and hopefully having back in the near future.”
Reeves on Mitch Georgiades
“Mitch is an outstanding player, one of the best forwards in the competition. So naturally, we're going to target him a lot. He's in the eyes of the kicker a lot. He works so hard and puts himself in positions that he demands the football. He's had 24 shots (on goal) in the last three weeks, so he's certainly a huge presence for us. And we know Jack Whitlock is improving and getting better each week, and we need him to keep improving, and that's the position we're in at the moment. We certainly need to get the ball inside forward 50 a little bit more. We haven't been able to do that the last couple of weeks. But when we have, we've been really efficient in scoring. So the challenge for us is to get it in there a bit more and try and find some different avenues as well.
“It's easy to sit back and watch his vision with him, and that's the assurance that he's playing good footy. And I get the narrative around the goal kicking stuff, (but) his efficiency is still pretty strong this year, his numbers are really strong. He's getting a lot of shots on goal, so that probably plays a bit of a part in that. But he goes to work every week on it. It's not something that we're concerned about. He's got a routine. He kicks as many set shots at goal during the week as anyone in the competition. So I've got no doubt that that'll turn and he'll have a big bag at some point soon.”
Reeves on Jason Horne-Francis’ mid/forward balance
“I’d like to have two of him, that would be a great start. I mean, that's the challenge we have at the moment. He's so valuable when he comes up (forward), I think in the first quarter, he changed the tone of the game when he went through the midfield, and got us going a little bit. So that's the challenge of how much time does he spend in there, and the value that we get out of him forward. So that's probably something that we'll continue to work at.”
Reeves on Esava Ratugolea
“He’s certainly in the mix. He got through the SANFL game really well, and we loved his aggression and the way he went about it in the SANFL game. So he'll certainly be in the mix to be in the squad, for sure.”
Reeves on the week in Darwin ahead
“We head up tomorrow. The squad heads up tomorrow which will be great, just to get up and get up into some warm weather and spend a few days up there. We train on Wednesday, have our main session up there on Wednesday. We've obviously got the Santos Aboriginal Power Cup up there, which is fantastic for the footy club and the community and the work we do in that space. So we'll get an opportunity to spend some time in that space up there, which will be great. But I think it's just an opportunity for us as a group to get up there and continue to look to get better, and a great opportunity to play against a great footy club in Gold Coast on Friday night.”
Reeves on playing against Gold Coast in Darwin
“I think the games in Darwin are traditionally a territory game, and if you can own the ball in your forward half, that gives you the best opportunity to put on the scoreboard. So we'll certainly have a good look at them, and we've reviewed our game strongly today. And what I know with our guys is it's an incredibly resilient group, and while we haven't got results over the last couple of weeks, we continue to put ourselves in positions to win games, and we'll certainly go up there with that mindset.”
Reeves on Josh Carr’s approach
“We just know that Josh is honest. He’s never going to shirk the issue. He's going to be straight down the line. He's going to tell us how he sees it. So he's been nothing different to that from the start, and I expect that he won't change at all.
“I think us as a coaching group, we take that lead, and we make sure that we all review the game in the same way, and our reviews into the games are honest from a coaching perspective, and I think the players appreciate that for sure.”
